


On the brightest summer day, we

by calerine



Category: Snow Man (Japan Band)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:20:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27752977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calerine/pseuds/calerine
Summary: Koji passes out from heat exhaustion and Meme looks after him.
Relationships: Meguro Ren/Mukai Kouji
Kudos: 9





	On the brightest summer day, we

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place in slightly different AU. They're still an idol group but they're not in Johnny's, and it's a longer way to making it big.
> 
> It's been a long week (month/year etc.) so I wrote more hurt/comfort MemeKoji.

The hall is hot and stuffy, way too much even for summer.

“I need to go sit down,” Koji gasps despite his best efforts at keeping his breathing even. It’s hard enough to stand with the lights winking in and out and the music blaring out of the speakers all around them, but after that run-through, his hands are shaking around his microphone. “I’m so sorry to bother, but I need to take five. I’ll be back in a moment.”

The head of sound gives him a thumbs-up from the sound booth and Koji pulls his earpiece out. 

The ground tilts a little to the right as he tries to figure his feet out. It seems like such a long way from his head to them, and they’re getting stuck between one step and the next.

He hears Hikaru behind him, talking about the choreography or something and Koji grits his teeth, trying to get the hall to stop swaying like this.

He knows he’s going to pass out soon if he doesn’t lay down, but it can’t be here in front of everyone. It can’t be on the stage before the one show they’ve all been looking forward to for so long. 

“Koji-kun, you okay?” Meguro’s voice is low and steady behind him. An arm wraps around Koji’s waist and it takes all of him not to lean into the touch, not to press all his weight into it and let his legs take a break like they want to.

The bright aura from the lights cloud his vision. Koji’s head is pounding, every breath sending pain reverberating through his skull.

He gasps, letting himself curl away from it all and into the familiar scent of camomile and sweat and Meguro’s cologne.

“I’ll be fine, I’ll—” 

“You don’t look fine,” Meguro’s arm tightens protectively around him, and a part of Koji still preens at that. “Have you been drinking enough water? What about the sports drink the staff gave us?”

“Fukka…” Koji manages. His tongue is clumsy and heavy and so very uncooperative. “Fukka-san—” The words get stuck between his teeth as he feels his legs crumple gently under him. 

He watches Meguro’s lips find the shape of his name, feel vaguely his hands trying to get a grip on Koji’s biceps before he hits the blessedly cool floor and the lights disappear for good.

***

One by one, his senses come back to him slowly.

First he hears Meguro’s humming by his ear, absentminded and low. Then, rhythmic gusts of wind against his brow and the already blinding light behind his eyelids.

His body feels battered and bruised, the months of sleepless nights and too-long practice sessions finally catching up with him all at once. His head throbs angrily, sharp pain piercing his temples with every heartbeat, and the spot where he knocked his shin against their coffee table yells at him for being stupid.

He winces from the light, the pain, everything, wishing he could find a dark hole to curl up in until it all goes away. But suddenly, there are cool fingertips pressing gently against his wrist, their touch so soft that Koji groans quietly, desperately for more.

“Koji-kun?” Meguro murmurs, low and dear by his ear and Koji finally finds enough strength in his body to drag his eyelids open with a gasp, his lungs sucking in cool air greedily like he’s been underwater for ages.

Meguro’s face swims for a moment, his eyes doubling then rejoining, and Koji can only blink sluggishly until the image sharpens like the lenses on one of his old cameras.

“Koji?” Meguro says again, brows pinching, and distantly, Koji tells his arms to lift so that his thumb can smooth that crease away but they barely twitch.

The fingertips become a hand and the hand finds his cheek. It’s dry and cool against his feverish skin, and Koji’s eyes flutter close again as he presses into the contact gratefully. 

“You just passed out.” Meguro tells him, still in that soft careful voice. “They’re trying to get a car so they can send you to the hospital… Can you sit up?”

Arms come to support him, and Koji whines as the pain in his skull flares. Meguro’s weight settles beside him and Koji instantly turns to push his face into his shoulder, seeking solace so badly that he forgets their promise not to get too close at work. 

But Meguro doesn’t seem to remember either from how his arm is braced around Koji’s shoulder and he’s shifting Koji’s forehead to his blessedly cool neck, so he can press the mouth of a straw to Koji’s lips. 

“Drink,” he orders. So Koji does, his body sucking up mouthfuls of sports drink so desperately that Meguro has to tug the straw away after a few breaths, his hand gently cupping the back of Koji’s head. 

“Not too much,” he murmurs, his tone only slightly chiding. 

Koji’s lip trembles, not thinking when he sighs a small _sorry_ into Meguro’s collarbone. He can feel a bit of strength coming back to his body, enough for him to sit up on his own. But the lights bring the pain and it’s rare that Meguro is so gentle and indulgent with him that Koji doesn’t even consider that for a second. 

“It’s ‘kay. Your body’s dehydrated so it’s only natural that it wants more, but I don’t want you to overdo it either.” Koji feels Meguro turn and press a kiss against his hair, hair that he hasn’t washed in two days and that smells like sweat and grease.

“Sorry for causing so much trouble.” Koji whispers, almost afraid to look up at Meguro’s face even though he knows that he’ll tell him not to apologise. They’ve all been busy enough, plates full up without Koji having to add to it. 

The pain in his head is receding but now guilt kicks at his heart. If only he could curl up somewhere and stop causing trouble for everyone else and at the same time, still go on stage tonight.

“Oh, the perf—” He starts before Meguro shushes him firmly.

“We’ll figure it out. Just… Take care of yourself properly okay, Koji-kun?” Meguro pulls back a little and Koji can see the uncertainty in his eyes. It’s weird but he’s never seen his Meme make this expression before; the downturn of his lips, the crease in his brows as deep as it is, the way his eyes are fixed on the ground, avoiding Koji’s gaze.

He’s… scared, Koji realises with a start.

They’ve only talked about how they need to keep their distance at work with their relationship as new as it is but never what to do if one of them gets hurt. What is distance then?

“Meme,” Koji lifts his hand to Meguro’s face, his thumb grazing his cheekbone gently, and Meguro turns his gaze downwards still. Koji leans up to kiss him, feeling the arm around his waist tighten minutely. “I’m fine, I’ll be fine, okay? I’m always fine, aren’t I? No matter what.”

He tries for a grin. It wavers a little before steadying. 

Still, Meguro is turned away.

Koji wraps his arms around him, pressing his forehead back to the curve of neck and shoulder. He breaths in Meguro’s faded cologne, musk and vanilla. 

The scent is comforting. It’s Meguro’s side of the bed on mornings with early call-times, it’s Koji’s new favourite hoodie that used to be Meguro’s, and above all, it’s a hug (several, if Koji gets his way) and neck rubs after a long day.

Koji lets out a long, long breath.

“I’m sorry for worrying you like this, Meme…” Koji’s voice shakes under the words. He can feel the tears on their way now, surging unbidden after the exhausting few weeks they’ve had. 

“It’s - It’s okay, Koji. I just -” Lips press again to Koji’s hair, and Koji can hear the rumble of Meguro’s voice against his head. Then, the silence of a slow exhale and Meguro’s arms winding around Koji too. “I’m just glad you’re awake now. I’ll go with you to the hospital, okay? I’ll tell them that I need to be there as - as your roommate. I’ll tell them I need to know how to take care of you tonight.”

Koji nods against Meguro’s chest, letting his eyes fall close again. 

“Okay, I want you to stay with me.”

Outside the door, Koji hears Hikaru and their manager’s voices overlapping and intermingling, worried murmurs too muffled to make out fully. He catches _Meme_ and _hospital,_ and then the noisy jangle of keys.

“Yeah,” Meguro replies, squeezing Koji tight. “I’m not going anywhere.”

***

**Addendum**

Meguro hangs back while a nurse named Shimada attaches an IV to Koji’s arm. 

They left Iwamoto and their manager at the front desk to fill in some forms. Better them than Meguro anyway; he would probably have messed up Koji’s kanji or something.

He looks a lot better now at least. There is more colour in his cheeks after the 3 of them took turns sitting next to him as he obediently sipped at sports drinks for the last hour or so.

Even so, he’s still a little limp, even more loopy now if that was even possible. Maybe it’s because they’re out in public and Meguro’s still letting himself be more affectionate than he ever is. Maybe Koji’s pleased about that… Meguro can’t really tell. 

“You sure you didn’t hit your head?” Nurse Shimada is asking, and Koji nods vigorously, every part of his body other than the arm with the IV agreeing. “How do you know?”

“Meme caught me,” Koji tells her, grinning. He almost looks proud. Meguro feels his chest grow hot under his shirt, and he would duck out of the room if Koji hadn’t freaking passed out just a few hours ago, then asked him to stay. Sometimes a man has to know when there are more important things than his pride. “He thought I looked off and came over and I just fainted and he caught me.”

“Meme?” The nurse asks, glancing down at Koji as she unpacks a blood pressure machine. Her hands move efficiently, rolling the cuff around Koji’s arm and tugging to make sure it’s tight enough.

Koji gestures in Meguro’s direction meaningfully and Meguro’s gaze is immediately fixated on the ground, his cheeks hot.

“Meme,” he answers, as if it explains enough.

“It’s a good thing Meme was there then,” Nurse Shimada tells Koji gently, signalling for him to stay quiet until the machine is done. “Your friends really take good care of you.”

Once it beeps, Koji nods happily and goes, “They do, they really do.”

Meguro looks up in time to catch his eyes and Koji nods again. “Especially Meme. He doesn’t like hospitals but he’s here because I was scared.”

It isn’t exactly a ward, but it looks like a room where they tend to minor injuries that need relatively immediate care. Meguro studies the non-existent pattern on the curtains separating Koji’s bed from the next, hand sliding deep into his pockets.

“You should thank him then,” he hears the nurse say before she calls for him. “Meguro-san?”

Meguro goes closer, close enough to the side of the bed that his fingers brush against the metal railings attached to it. Koji’s hand is just on the other side of it and Meguro finds his eyes lingering on it. He’s never noticed how slender and delicate they look.

“Mukai-san won’t need to stay the night. It was just heat exhaustion. From what I’ve heard, you boys have been pushing yourselves way too hard. I’m surprised something like this hasn’t happened before. Mukai-san should be ready to leave in a few more hours, I want to keep him on the IV a little while longer. We can call him a taxi when he’s ready.” She pauses for a moment to jot down a few notes on her clipboard, before looking up at him. “Make sure you’re hydrating and resting enough too. I don’t want to see you in here, ya hear me?”

Meguro nods. “Sorry,” he bows, feeling weirdly like he’s done something wrong. “I’ll be careful.”

She nods and he watches her brisk walk her way out of the room, her crocs squeaking on the polished floor.

When he looks down again, Koji is wearing a wide grin.

“What?” He asks, suddenly self-conscious. 

“Nothing,” Koji replies, even though his hand is creeping through the metal railing. His fingers tickle at Meguro’s, poking and prodding until Meguro relents and curls their index fingers together. “Shimada-san told me to say thank you. So... Thanks, Meme.”

Meguro rolls his eyes and ducks his head, doing everything he can to draw attention away from the way his cheeks are hot with embarrassment. 

“It was nothing. I was just there and you practically fell onto me. You were quite heavy, to be honest so it’s a good thing I started weight-training recently,” the words tumble out from his mouth and once they reach Meguro’s ears, they sound a little harsher than he’d meant to.

“Still though, thanks, Meme.” Koji cocks his head to the side, a faint smile dancing on his lips. He looks even more earnest than usual, and Meguro’s heart skips a little in his chest.

“You’re welcome, Koji-kun. I’m glad I was there, too.” Koji squeezes their intertwined index fingers gratefully. He giggles a little as he stretches a little further to tickle the palm of Meguro’s hand teasingly until Meguro closes his hand around the finger and makes him pout.

At least his dopey grin is a sign of his concussed heart, Meguro thinks, not a concussed head.

 _That_ , he can work with.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my roommate who got me into Snow Man in the first place and who reads my writing at midnight and who puts up with me when I burst into tears about nothing much.


End file.
